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Welcometothislittleintroductiononhowtogivetechnicalpresentations.Ihopeyouwillfindituseful.
Thepresentationismeantforrelativebeginnerseventhoughevenseasonedpresentersmayfindsomethingnewinit.Naturally,wedon'ttouchalltopicsandsomeonlysuperficially.Butonceyouareawareofsomebasicideasyoucanstartaspiralofselfimprovement.
Notethatnoneofthebasicideasintheseslidesarenovelorinventedbyme.Rathertheyareextractedfromasetofexcellentbookslistedattheveryend.
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 1
Hereonthetitlepagewealreadyseetwoprinciplesinaction.
Alignment isparticularlyimportant;itgivesstructureandordertoaslide(oranygraphicaldesign).Interestingly,centeraligmentusuallylooksweakandunsophisticated.AsabasicruleIsuggestthatyoualignleftifindoubt(alsoappliestotablesBTW).Tryit!Beyondthattrytoalignmostelementsonaslidetosomethingelse.
Contrastmeansthatiftwoelementsaremeanttolookdifferent,makethemreallydifferent.Forexample,lookatthetitleandmyname.Thefontsdifferinbothweightandsizewhichmakesitlookvisuallyappealing.Trythesamewithonlysizeoronlyweightchanged;itwilllookworse.Asageneralrule,contrastinfontsisachievedbychangingatleasttwoattributesamongweight,size,color,andfonttype.
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 2
Ilikethisproverbanditfitswell.AppliedtothetopicofthispresentationIwanttomotivateyoutostriveforquality.
Thephotoisfromistockphoto.com.ThecolorforthetextisextractedfromthebrighterpartsofthisphotousingPhotoshop'scolorpicker(usefultrick).
Theslidealsogoesalongwithoneofmymajorrules:startyourtalkwithaninterestingslideandcertainlyavoidatextslide.
Unfortunately,allslidesintheremainingtalkwilllookworsethanthisone.
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http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 3
Hereisacoupleofbulletsexpressingthemotivationforthistalk.Thetextseemsreasonableenoughbuttherearesomevisualshortcomings.Canyoutell?
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http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 4
Here,theshortcomingsarelisted.Notehowweviolatedtosomeextenttheprinciplesfromthebeginning:alignmentandcontrast.Let'sfixthese.
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 5
Muchbetter,no?Thealignmentandthecontrastbetweenbulletsandsub‐bulletscreatesstructure.Asatextslideitlooksgood,butdowereallywantorneedatextslide?(Theanswerisnoasyoumayimagine.)
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 6
Thisisamorevisualslidedesignedtoconveythesamecontent.
Thedisadvantageisthatnowyouhavetorememberwhattosay.However,ifyoudon't,youarebadlypreparedanyway.
Thebigadvantageisthatpeoplewillhavemoretimelisteningsincetheyarenotbusyreading(thereisabiologicalreasonforthis,explainedlater).Equallyimportant,thevisualsmaketheslidemuchmoreinteresting.Sopeoplearelesslikelytoreturntotheirlaptops.Thisisanimportantgoal,inparticularonthefirstfewslides.
Onthecontent:Presentationsareauniquechancetoconnectyourworkwithyourperson.Ifyoudoagoodjob,peoplemayrememberyou,whichisparticularlyimportantinanytypeofjob(academia:atonepointyouneedreferenceletters;industry:atonepointajobuptheladderwillopenupandtheywillonlyconsiderthepeopletheyremember).Unfortunately,mostpresentationsfallfarshortofthisgoalandareratherawasteoftimeformostoftheaudience.Thisisyourchance:learnhowtodoitwellandyouhaveanedge!
Thebottompartconveysthatcontentandvisualqualityareequallyimportant.Andtheyare.Notethatslidesthatcommunicatewellarealsobeautiful.Thisimplies(everhadalogicsclass?)thatuglyslideswillnotcommunicatewell.
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 7
NotethatIhadaddedanacknowledgment,sincetheplotwassuggestedtomebyacolleagueinmydepartment.Acknowledgingisgoodstyleasmuchasnotacknowledgingisbadstyle.Imagineyoucreateafabulousdatagraphic,giveittosomebodywhousesitandshedoesnotmentionyou.
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 8
Hereyouseethenaturalenemyofthepresenter:theaddictivecommunicationdeviceofourtimes.Whenyoudesignyourtalkkeepthisinmind!Ifyouareboringfor2or3minutes,peoplewillstartcheckingemailandallyourworkwasinvain.
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 9
Hereistheoverviewofthispresentation.
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 10
Naturally,westartwiththefirstpoint.
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 11
Likemanyotherthings,qualityrequiressufficienttimeforpreparation.Weareallbusy,butpreparationisamatterofpriority.And,untilyourarefamous,presentingshouldbeapriorityforyou.Onceyouarefamousyoucanhiregraphicsdesignertodothemforyou.
Itishardtogiveagoodruleforthenumberofslides.Fortechnicalpresentations,Ifoundthat2/3timesminutesisagoodruleofthumb.Andthisincludesallslides.Yes,all.Don’tconvinceyourselfthatsomearejustoverviewslidesandsomesortofempty.Doesnotmatter.2/3,notmore.Leaveroomforyoutotalkaboutyourslides.Inparticularaboutyourresults(oftentowardstheend).
Bootupyourlaptopinthemorningofyourpresentation,YoudowantthelatestOStoinstallitselfoneminutebeforeyourtalk.
MarkusPüschel
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Knowyourlaptop!Howoftenhaveyouseenpeopletryingtofigureouthowtogettheimageontothescreen.Youlosevaluableminutes!
Absolutelygetaremotemouse.Thisallowsyoutoroamaroundfreely,standwhereyouwant,andnaturallyblendtheadvancingofyourslidesandanimationswithyourspeech.
Sneakersandshabbyshortsatamajorconference?Areyoufamousyet?
Superimportant:acknowledgeyourco‐authors.Notdoingthisisacrime.Notkidding.Usuallytheyworkedashardasyou(ortriedtheirbesttoadviseyou).Sotheirnameshavetobeverballymentioned.Imaginewhatyouwoulddoifhalfofthetalkiscreatedfromyourbloodandsweatandyouwatchyourcolleaguetalkingaboutitandnevermentioningyou.
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 13
Nowlet'stalkaboutthecontent.
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 14
Youhavetostartyourtalkwiththemotivation.Whatareyoudoing,whyareyoudoingitandwhyisitimportant?(Thelasttwoquestionsareoftenconnected.)Makesureyoureallyanswerthesequestions.
Don'tstartwithatext‐onlyslide(rememberthenaturalenemy?)butwithaninterestingvisual.Thefirstslideisyourbestchancetodrawtheaudiencein.
Ifatallpossiblegiveapreciseproblemstatement.Ideallyvisualizeit.Ifpeopledon'tknowwhatareyoudoing,whywouldtheycareabouthowyouaredoingit?
Showothercoolthingsifappropriate.Hintofthesolution?Coolexampleresult?Coolconclusionofyourwork?Everythingthatcatchesattentionandmakespeoplewanttolistentoyou.
Inlongpresentations(let'ssay>25minutes),theoverviewslidehelpstoreinitializepeople.Youshouldhelpwiththatbysayingsomethinglike"Ijustexplained…..,nextIwillshow.”Maybesomepeoplewillcomebackfromplayingwithyournaturalenemy.Shorttalksdon'tneedrepeatedoverviewslides.
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 15
Hereisaverystandardorganizationforatechnicalpresentation.Useitifyoucannotthinkofanythingbetter.
Putslidenumbersifoneofyouraudienceisnotintheroom(butconnectedoverphoneetc.).Thisway,youcannameaparticularslideifthingsgetmessedup.
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 16
Herecomesabigone.Ijustlearnedthisrecently.Textandspeechisprocessedinthebrainbythesame"channels."Thismeansyoucannotreadand(really)listenatthesametime.Incontrast,imagesandspeechcanbeprocessedinparallel.Theconsequenceiseasy,right?
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 17
Thepreviousslidetellsustominimizetext.Ideallythevisualsareontheslideandthetextisproducedbyyou.Again,thisrequirespreparationbutit'sworthit.
Honestly,whendidyourememberthelasttimeatextonlyslide?
Further,fortextusebulletsandbeshort(noneedforcompletesentences).Remember,everywordontheslidecompeteswithyoufortheaudience'sattention.
Ifyouneedtohavemanybulletsconsiderlettingthemappearasyouspeak(here,theremotemouseisamustunlessyoustandrightinfrontofyourlaptop).
Defineeveryacronymandusethemsparingly.
Usethefollowingruletoforceyourselftogetridoftext.Goto"ViewSlideSorter"andmakesurenotwoconsecutiveslidesaretextonly.Onceyoumasteredthatonaregularbasis,takeittothenextstepandavoidtext‐onlyslides(exceptmaybeoverviewslides)altogether.
Sinceitissoimportant,Iputtheslideinred.Asanaside,theniceshadingeffectisstandardintheppt2007menu(Shapefill→ Gradient).
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 18
Ofcourse,onofthemaingoalsofyourtalkistogetthetechnicalcontentacross.Thisincludesthemotivation,theexactproblemstatement,themainideabehindyoursolution,andyourmainresult.
Donottrytogeteverydetailofyourworkacross.Itissimplytoomuchformostoftheaudience.Thisdoesnotmeanyoushouldtrivializebutratherfocus.Thismayincludegoingdeepforafewslidesbutnottoolong,otherwiseeverybodywillbelost.
Didyouevergiveatalk,presentingallthedetailsofyournicework,andattheendyougetaquestionthatshowsthatnoteventheproblemyouaresolvingcameacross?Certainlyhappenedtomemanytimes.Findtherightbalanceforyouraudience(andthismaydifferbyaudience).
Ifmanypeoplerememberanythingfromyourtalkitwasasuccess.Seriously.
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http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 19
Inparticularifitgetscomplicated.
Orequationheavy.
Thismayincludeproperly usedanimations(don’tfancify).
Notethatthisgoesalongwithminimizingtextbutissomewhatdifferent.HereIwanttoemphasizethatcomplicatedtechnicalcontenthastobevisualizedtoatleastsomeextenttogivetheaudiencetherightmentalpictureandatleastabasicideaofwhatyouaretalkingabout.Thisrequirespractice.Let'slookatatypicalsituation.
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 20
Iseethissituationveryoften.Astudentgivesatechnicalpresentationwithratherdeeptechnicalcontent.Soontheslidesarefilledwithequationsandthestudentstalksvividlyaboutallkindsofdetails.Theaudienceislonglostsincemostdon'tseetheseexactequationsallthetimesotheyarestrugglingtocreateamentalpicture.
Theinterestingthingisthatthestudentmostlikelydoesnothavethematerialstoredinherbrainin theformofequationsbutprobablydoeshavesomesortofstructureorvisualizationinherhead.Soobviouslythereisamuchbetterwayofdoingit.
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 21
Namelylikethis.Anditcommunicatesimmediately.Ofcourse,noteverythingisacircle butanyvisualhelps.Remember:itisextremelyimportantthatpeoplehavetherightmentalpictureofwhatyouaredoingandhowyouaredoingit.Wordsmeandifferentthingstodifferentpeopleandequationscanbequicklyunderstoodonlybytheexpertinexactlythesamearea.
Howdoyouvisualize?Drawfromyourownmentalpictureofthematerial.
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 22
Hereareafewsimpleexamplesofvisualizations.Blockdiagramsareparticularlyusefultoidentifycomponents,howtheyinteract,inputandoutputetc.
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 23
Asimplefigureasontheleftcanbeusedtogiveaproblemspecification(whichyouhavetoinclude:mentionedinearlierslides).Inthisexample,theauthorsbuilttheredblockcalledSpiral.
OntherightsideisavisualizationofQuicksort.IntheactualtalkIletitappearinstepscorrespondingtothestepsinthealgorithm.
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 24
Complexprocessesalwaysrequireavisualization.Hereisanexamplefrombiology.Notethatwhenitgetsthiscomplex,youneedtimetoexplainitifyouwantto.
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 25
Heresomemorethingstoremember.Theredonesarecommonmistakesthatyouhavetolearntoovercome.
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 26
Toomanytextslidesalready!InthetalkIletthesebulletsappearoneaftertheother.Thetwokeypointsherearetheuseofoverviewslidestogetpeopleback(fromthenaturalenemy;seeearlierslide)tolisteningtoyou.Forexample,youjustfinishedexplainingyouralgorithminallitstechnicalgloryandnowyoucometotheresults.Emphasizethiswhileyoutalk.Manypeopleareinterestedintheresultseveniftheydidnotcaretoomuchhowyoudidit.
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 27
Let'stalkabouttheactualdesignofyourslides.
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 28
Wearguedearlierthatthevisualqualityisasimportantasthetechnicalcontent.Thisisnotaboutaddingbeautytogoodtechnicalcontent.Thisisaboutmakingslidescommunicateefficiently.Interestingly,slidesthatachievethatarebeautiful.
AsbasiclayoutIpreferblackonwhitesinceitcanalsobeprintedifneeded.
Awordonlogos:donot,Irepeatnot,stuffsomethingintoeverycornerofyourslides.Keepthebasiclayout(template)emptysoyouhavealotofrealestate.Ifyouwantlogos,putallintoonecornerandmakethemsmalloravoidthemexceptforthefirstandlastslide(whereyoucanmakethemlarger).
Beconsistent throughoutthetalk(samefonts,samecolorsforthesamethings,etc.).Asyougetbetteryoumaywanttobreakconsistencyoccasionallyifithelpswithcommunicating(anexamplearethetworedslidesinthistalk).
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 29
Thereisalotthatcanbesaidaboutfontsbutwespendonlyoneslide.
Seriffonts(likethisoneorTimesNewRoman)havelittleextensionsineverycharacter.Thiseasesthereadingoflargetextblocklikebooks.
Sans‐seriffontsdon'thavetheseextensionsandtendtobeadvantageousinsmallblocksoftext(likeheaders).Henceuseasans‐seriffont.Mysuggestion:useCalibri.ItcomeswithOffice2007butcanalsobedownloadedforusewithOffice2003.Sinceitisfreeitcanprobablyusedwithothersoftwareaswell.
Forcode(e.g.,aCprogram)useCourierNewbold.
MarkusPüschel
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ThemathtypesettingabilitiesofOfficeareverylimited.First,onlyverybasicsymbolsareavailable.Second,itdoesnotlookgood.Comparethetopright(Office)tothetopleft(texpoint,discussedbelow).
Ifyouusealotofmath(anddonotuselatextomakeyourslides),gettexpoint,alatexpluginforOffice.Thismeansyoucandoallthemathlatexcandoandtheappearanceisequallygreat.Ifyouhavealreadywrittenapaper,chancesareyouusedlatex,soyoucanjustdocopy‐paste.
MarkusPüschel
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Colorsaregreatandyoushouldusecolors.Buthow?
OftenIseetheaboveonesinpresentations.Theyaregarishand,well,horrendous.Occasionallytheremaybeagoodreasontousesuchacolorbutusuallynot.Tolookattheseoneactuallyneeds….
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…glasses.
Soifnotthosethenwhich?
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 33
Powerpointoffersthesecolorsatthefirstlevelinthecolormenu.Nothingwrongwiththeshadesofgray.Butmostofthecolorsarenotreallyuseful,inparticularifyouneedtofillaboxoranyarea.
Thesolutionisinthecustomtabonthetop.Let'sclickit.
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 34
Weendupwiththemenuontheright.Firstweneedtounderstandcolormodels.Bydefault,OfficeshowsRGB(red,green,blue),meaningthateverycolorisspecifiedby3valuesbetween0and255.However,itishardtorelatethesenumberstocolor.
Ontherightweshowadifferentmodel:HSL(hue,saturation,lumniosity).Hgivestherainbowspectrum,thex‐axisabove.Sgivesthesturation,they‐axisabove.Thefullysaturatedcolorsareallontop.Allcolorsfromthepreviousslidearefullysaturated.Afullydesaturated colorisgray.Listheluminosityorbrightness,thez‐axissotosayandshownbythesliderontheright.
Ifyouwantacolorchooseitontop(oronthepreviousscreen),sayred,switchtoHSLmode,andthendesaturate it.Thenadjustluminosityandfinetune.
Seehowthedesaturated colorslooknice.Theydon’tcommandasmuchattention.Moreonthatlater.
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 35
Hereareafewboxesthatyoucanconsider.Usually,forlargerareas,chooseapastelcolor=abright,desaturatedcolor.Aboxinsuchacolorwillserveitspurposebutnotdistractattention.Sometimesdarkboxescanbeuseful.Considerputtingwhitetextintoit.
MarkusPüschel
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Thebiologicalprocessshownusesonlypastelcolorsasdoespracticallyanymap.Inparticularmapsareagoodexampleofwhatiscalledlayering.Awayofoverlayingdifferentlevelsofinformationinsideonevisual.Theselayerscanbeaccessedbyrefocusing.Forexample,ontheright,youcanfocusontheoceanandrivers,onthestreets,onthecitiesetc.Thisispossibleduetothechoiceofcolors(subdued=pastel).Ifeverycomponentscreamedforattentionatthesametimeonecouldnotlookatit.
Forexample,onslide23,thebottomblockdiagramusessomesimplelayering:theredboxesandthegrayareawithgraytext.Laterwewillseeviewgraphsthatuselayering.BelowonthepageIuselayeringtode‐emphasizethetextandtheslidenumbers.
BTW,doyouknowwhereAveirois?DidyouknowCMUhasajoinedMaster'sandPhDprogramwiththiscountry?
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 37
Ifyouhaveanyquantitativeresult,youshouldshowaviewgraph.Herearesomebasicrules.MostoftenIseethefontsizeruleandthecontrastruleviolated.
Makesuretheplotclearlyshowsexactlythemessagethatyouwanttogetacross(ifany).
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 38
Hereisaviewgraph.Nowitisimportantthatyoupresentitsoitisunderstandable.Don'tforgetthatyouhaveseenitamilliontimesbuttheaudiencehasnot.Sotheyneedguidance.Proceedinthestepsshownabove.I'lldoitfortheplotshown.
• InthisplotwecomparetheperformanceofsingleanddoubleprecisioncodeforthediscreteFouriertransform,namelySpiral‐generatedversustheIPPlibrary.
• Thex‐axisshowsthebase‐2logoftheDFTinputsize,so5means32.
• They‐axisshowtheperformanceinMflop/s(Iknowtheaudienceknowswhatthisis),sohigherisbetter.
• NowIpointtoonedatapointandexplainwhatthismeans.E.g.,fork=4,thetriangleshowsthatSpiral'sdoubleprecisioncoderunsat1300Mflop/s,whichismorethantwiceasfastasIPPscode(500Mflop/s).
Nowyoucanproceedbytalkingabouteverthingyouwant.Thenyoucan conclude.Here:Overall,Spiral‐generatedcodeisabouttwiceasfastasIPP.
Theplotisratherugly.Andseehowthelegendisplacedsomewhatrandomly.
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 39
Hereisanattractiveplot.Studyitforabitandtrytoverbalizewhy.Also,trytofinddesigndecisionsthatyoumaybehaveneverthoughtabouttrying.
MostofthedesigndecisionsIstolefromTheEconomist.
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 40
Hereisanexplanationofthemainfeatures.Interestingly,mostarebasedonprincipleswealreadylearned.
MostsurprisingtomewhenIlearneditwasthefollowing:
• Thereisnoreasontohavethey‐axislabelvertical.Andifyouthinkforawhileitdoesnotmakesenseatall.Onesimplyhasahardtimereadingaverticallabel.Asdoneabove,itisperfectlyclearthatthey‐axisisthenumberofpeople.
• Youdonotneeday‐axis,atleastnothere.
Besidesthat,notehowcontrastisusetocreatealayeringeffect.Thedataisatthefore(asitshould),andthegridlinesandeverythingelseareintheback.
AsEdwardTuftesays:"Aboveelseshowthedata"(seereferencesonthelastslide).
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http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 41
Hereisablack&whiteplotsinceitwasusedforprintpublishing(inapresentation,colorwouldbemuchbetter).Wedecidedtoinvertthebackgroundsinceitseparatestheplotclearerfromitssurroundingsinapaper.
Theonepossiblysurprisingfeatureisthatthereisnolegend.Infact,ifpossibleavoidalegendandputthedescriptionrightintotheplot.Thinkabouthowlongittakestoparsetheconnectionbetweenlinesandlegend.Eyesgobackandforthandbackandforth…..
Asdonehereitisimmediate.
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 42
Thereismuchtobesaidabouttables;andaswithplotsandpresentations,itisnotstraightforwardtomakegoodtables.Butagain,someofthesameprincipleswehavealreadylearnedapply.Seetheaboveguideforashortintroduction.
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 43
AbriefnoteaboutPowerpoint.
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 44
ImuchpreferPowerpointoveranyothersoftwareformakingpresentations.2007isinmyopinionamajorimprovementandmakesitmucheasiertocreateattractivepresentations.Asamathematician,however,youmaywanttoconsiderlatex.Averynicestyleforslidesisavailableinlatex(myonlymajorcomplaintisthatthetemplateusestoomuchoftherealestate).ButbacktoPowerpoint.
Ifyoufrequentlymakepresentations,learnhowtoreallyusePowerpoint(orwhichevertoolyouuse).Itisworthit.Thisincludestheabovetips.
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http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 45
Assaidabove.
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 46
Iintroducedacoupleofbasicprinciplesinthispresentation.Thefirstfourapplytographicdesigningeneral.Thefifthiscrucialinpresentations,sinceitmakesitpossibletocommunicatecomplextechnicalcontentanditminimizestext,whichisoneofthekeygoalsinmakingpresentations.Thelastoneisgenerallygoodpractice.Letmebreifly restatethemainpoints:
Alignment:Don'trandomlyplaceelements.Mostshouldbealignedtosomething.Ifindoubt,tryfirstleftalignment.
Contrast: Ifyouwantthatelementslookdifferentmakethemsufficientlydifferent.Forfontschangeatleasttwoattributes.Withcolorsplayaround.E.g.,warmagainstcold,darkagainstbrightgivesgoodcontrast.
Layeringmeansthatineveryvisualyoudecidewhichelemnts shouldbeintheforground anddesignaccordingly.Lesserimportantelementsyouputinthebackground,e.g.,bymakingthemforexamplegrayorbrightorboth.
Consistencymeansthatsimilarelementsshouldbedesignedsimilarly.Forexample,usethesamefontthroughoutthetalk.Youmaybreaktheprincipleforemphasis.
Visualization: Trytodisplayproblemstatement,yourapproach,youralgorithm,complicatedtechnicalbackground,theorems,etc.Everythingthatworksisallowed.Startfromthewayyouthinkaboutthings.Minimizetextmoreandmoreuntilyoucancreatetalkswithouttext‐onlyslides.
Acknowledge yourco‐authors(saytheirnames),materialborrowedfromothersources,andrelatedwork.
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Irepeatthemostimportantpoints.Inyoursummary,considerrepeatingakeyvisualfromyourtalk.
Takeeveryopportunitytopracticepresentationsandalwaysgiveyourbest.
Watchotherpresentationsandtrytoseewhatworksandwhatnot.Thebestexerciseistotrytoverbalizewhysomethinglooksgoodandwhyitdoesnot.Onceyoucanverbalizeit,itisunderyourcontrol.Also,designiseverywhere,solookatit.Lookatviewgraphsinnewspapersandmagazines.Lookatanyformofdesign.E.g.,postersinmuseumsalywas lookgreat.Spendaminutelookingatthedesigndecisions.Doyourecognizesomeoftheprincipleswetalkedabout?
Youcannotbecomeagreatpresenterovernight.Likeeverythingelse,ittakespracticeandthedesiretogetbetter,i.e.,itdoesnothappenautomatically.Ihopethatwiththefewtipsfromthispresentationyoucangetonyourwaytobecomingapresenterthatpeopleremember.Goodluck!
Iamhappytohearaboutanycomments.Emailme(mywebsiteisbelow).
Cheers!
Markus
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 48
AsIsaidinthebeginning,Ididnotinventanythinginthistalk.Everythingiscollectedfrombooks.HereareafewofthemthatIconsiderparticularlyhelpful.Checkthemout.
MarkusPüschel
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~pueschel 49